Aborted Dynasty casino reopening boils down to ‘he said, she said’

The Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission and Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino are offering two contrasting explanations why the latter’s casino operations didn’t reopen last Tuesday as planned.

Responding to Saipan Tribune queries yesterday, Tinian Dynasty general manager Christopher Bishop simply said the “gaming commission has not given permission to reopen” as the reason for the aborted reopening.

When pressed for details, Bishop said the future reopening of Tinian Dynasty’s casino is now on the TCGCC’s court as they’ve already met all the conditions set by the casino regulator.

“We have completed all their conditions, so the timetable is up to them,” he said in a Facebook message to Saipan Tribune.

TCGCC executive director Lucy Blanco-Maratita denied Bishop’s assertion that Tinian Dynasty has already met all the conditions the commission set in order for the casino to be allowed to reopen.

“Three hours before the start of the program [reopening on Tuesday, Dec. 15] we told him that he [Bishop] couldn’t reopen. I called him on Friday [Dec. 11] and then I called him on Monday [Dec. 14] because they were planning to reopen on Tuesday. I asked about updates, specifically if the gaming tables and the slot machines fees will be paid and he said he doesn’t know.

“‘Today is Monday and tomorrow you’re opening so you need more time if you intend to reopen. Let us know if you’re going to meet the conditions,’” Blanco-Maratita recalled her conversation with the Tinian Dynasty general manager.

She told Bishop that one of the easiest items to cross off from the list of conditions is the fees for the gaming tables and slot machines, yet even that, Blanco-Maratita said, Tinian Dynasty failed to meet.

“The easiest one to meet is pay the fees because it would be worthless to open the casino and you cannot use the gaming tables and the slot machines,” she told Saipan Tribune in a telephone interview yesterday.

Blanco-Maratita said the fees for slot machines is $175 apiece and for gaming tables it is $250 apiece. In all, Tinian Dynasty only had to come up with between $50,000 and $60,000 to fulfill one of the regulators’ requirements.

On their end, Blanco-Maratita said that acting governor Ralph DLG Torres’ signing of the Tinian municipal budget on Tuesday finally allowed them to again staff the gaming commission office, which is one of the requirements for the reopening of the casino.

“The other condition is we need to have a fully functioning gaming commission office. We need the auditors in place and the gaming commissioners to be back. When there was no budget, they were furloughed and they did not come in and work. None of the administrative staff came in and worked,” she said.

It will be recalled that the shuttering of the casino in August resulted in not only TCGCC to furlough personnel but also Tinian Mayor Joey Patrick San Nicolas to let go off some of his staff as well.

Other requirements for the casino’s reopening include the rehiring of Spectrum Gaming and the settling of Tinian Dynasty’s financial obligations to its former employees who haven’t been paid their salaries.

“They need to have the Spectrum Gaming consultants in place and they have to be involved and assist them in order to be in compliance,” Blanco-Maratita said, adding that the condition was in place even before the casino closed in the summer.

“They [Spectrum Gaming] are no longer here. They [Tinian Dynasty] have to make sure the contract is updated. They have also not submitted a payment plan. We don’t know if they have paid their employees but I guess that’s now in the bankruptcy court. They have to make sure they meet their financial obligations including for their employees.”

Blanco-Maratita said even though Tinian Dynasty’s casino is not operational, TCGCC staff are back at work because there are other casino licenses that need to be taken cared of.

“There are other casino license applicants—Alter City Group, Bridge Investment Group. There are other things the commission has to address, including the bankruptcy filing of Tinian Dynasty.”